how to: virtual onboarding.

Studies show that effective onboarding reduces the time it takes a new employee to effectively contribute to the business. 

• 69% of employees are more likely to stay with a company for three years if they experience great onboarding.
• Research by Glassdoor has found that organisations with a strong onboarding process improve new hire retention by 82% and productivity by over 70%.

Candidate search and selection is only the first part of the recruitment journey. Employers need to give thought and attention to how they convert good job candidates into successful long term employees. A failure to do so means businesses are wasting their time and money on recruitment and selection in a challenging time.

According to our 2019 employer brand data, 1/3 of employees are likely to leave if they feel there is a limited career path open to them. 

Rather than setting new employees up for success, businesses with poor onboarding processes could see their new employee leaving before the end of their probation. New starters who experience badly planned and executed introductions sometimes get the impression that the business is poorly managed and may reconsider their choice to develop in the role.

Gen Z (workers aged between 18 and 24) and millennials, or Gen Y,  (those aged between 25 and 34)  are likely to make up a significant number of new hires. 

Millennials are no longer the new kids on the block. In fact the latest iteration of generation categories is generation alpha, which, like it's dominating sounding title is comprised of those born 2010+. Although not yet job seekers, they are soon becoming the next phase of candidates with even greater deamnd for flexibility, instant responses, virtual learning and digital experts. Virtual onboarding will be to norm to alphas, as they stream a video game, make a TikTok video and simultaneously conduct an interview. 

As many of these generations of workers are now in their mid-30s, and have successfully integrated into the workforce. It is likely you may be onboarding Gen Z who are often new to the workforce and can be unclear about what to expect. 

While Gen Z sometimes get a bad name for job hunting, or looking for a quick promotion, managers should consider that in these early stages of their careers, younger workers and recent graduates tend to be focused on learning and growth. 

36% of millennials leave organisations if they lack career opportunities.

Why not contact your new employee before they start and share important information to help them feel prepared and excited for their first day?

Information could include:

• working hours
• mobile numbers and emails of core team members. 
• intro to working from home. A re-cap of the online systems the business uses, and how often people run video calls.

Top tips for the first few days:

• Meet the wider team and other departments. Set up an online team meeting where the team can discuss current or upcoming projects. Have a separate catch up with the new starter to ask about previous experience and what they are most looking forward to.
• Start introducing duties, shadowing and setting small tasks, don’t disengage them with an overload of work and to-do lists.
• Send a company, or department email with a picture (if they agree to it) with their hobbies, position and department. This also encourages others to interact with the new starter and reinforce the welcome.
• Check-in, arrange a 1-2-1 for them to give feedback. Remember every new employee is an opportunity to improve your management style, so encourage feedback and act on it.

See our onboarding checklist at the end of this guide for more tips. 

Remember technology is vital in today’s working world but it cannot replace the one-on-one interactions between new hires and various members of the organisation that elevate the onboarding experience. 

Arrange a series of catch-ups with key internal stakeholders over the first few weeks. This could be a key person for each major department: finance, HR, marketing, IT. Technology can streamline the administrative process. Rather than giving new hires lots of information to remember, ask a team member to remotely show them how to use systems such as the benefits portal to find the information they need. It’s easy to focus on programmes and systems only related to the core day job but knowing where to book a holiday, claim expenses, view benefits are important for a new starter to feel part of the organisation. 

The general consensus among HR professionals is that onboarding should take at least three months. However, research suggests companies can increase employee retention by extending onboarding throughout an employee’s entire first year. 

• Survey your new starter in months one and three
• One-on-one conversations are important during onboarding, but if you can’t find the time, consider sending out a survey instead.
• Schedule training. As part of the onboarding process, engage with your new employee to establish what skills they feel they need training on. Explore and book in relevant internal training, conferences and webinars that are likely to happen later in the year. Identifying employee training as a priority for the business can increase employee engagement and loyalty.

Successfully onboarding a new employee takes several months and has additional challenges when you are unable to meet face to face. The best employee onboarding programmes extend throughout the employee’s first 90 days and may even extend out for a full year to ensure new hires are fully supported as they reach full productivity.

download the guide to view our checklist.

When we think of onboarding, the tendency is to think of new starters as graduates straight from university or the experienced professional joining from a competitor. Onboarding can help set people up for success at any time of change in their career. 

Large organisations might invest in an online portal with bespoke content and learning to achieve this but there are still areas that as a manager you can develop.

• Returners to work
• Building an agile workforce
• Moving in management
• Mergers and acquisitions